'Battlefield V' returns to WWII with ever-evolving multiplayer

Microsoft optimistic as Xbox 360 has record Euro month; Sony claims overall lead

Speaking at the Reuters Media Summit in New York this week, Shane Kim confessed that Microsoft's Magic 8-Ball is as broken as everyone else's magic crystals, bird baths, mirrors and good old wild guesses have been during these volatile times. The VP was optimistic about the games industry in general, though, suggesting that consumers are "still looking for entertainment," specifically, of the stay-at-home variety. Despite walloping Black Friday sales in the U.S. and a record month in Europe, Kim remained concerned about 2009's outlook. "Who knows, maybe flat performance will be considered a remarkable achievement," Kim prayed aloud. Amen?

Meanwhile, Sony shucked word of Microsoft's dominant November and took a thunderous lead in the back-and-forth shouting match for the European crown. "I am confident that in PAL territories our installed base is 300,000 units ahead of Xbox 360," SCEE president David Reeves insisted to MCV, adding, "No we are not going to go down in price; neither are we going to go down in price on PS3 in spring time either." So there.